Reilena’s increases your damage by 0.5% per essence.
You can get close to 660 essence, which gives you close to 330% damage. This is lower than both the alternatives. 400% for SotC and 700% for the spike.
You start with 250, you can get +40 from passive, +20 from both weapon slots, for 330, simulacrum will double this for 660. The upside is that Bone Spikes generates an additional 5 essence per hit, and you don’t need Bone Armor up if you use this instead of SotC.
That could be a viable option if there’s a way to increase your essence by another 70. This would put you at 400 base essence, 800 doubled, for 400% damage bonus. I don’t think there’s anything else we can add essence too though, perhaps another 20 on an amulet?
Without Bone Armor you’d free up a slot for curses, LotD, or a Golem though, so that could be useful. As it stands, our damage output is so low that sacrificing at least 70% of that multiplier isn’t worth it.
It is easy to show that if you and they hit a single target with Grim Scythe, you only get the essence you would generate on your own. What I haven’t been able to figure out, and which might explain the perception mentioned here, is if the game counts any target hit by either you or your simulacra to determine how much essence you get. That same question has implications for Blighted Marrow Bone Spears as well.
If their casts are considered an extension of your own, though still only considering multiple strikes at once against an enemy as a single hit, then that would make using Simulacrum with a Grim Scythe build (not with the set) would do more than just triple your damage output.
But, there are obviously two other options. Either their casts can be treated as entirely separate, looking at how many are hit by their casts to determine the damage that hit does. Or they could have a one-way link to your cast, where they do the same base damage as you do, regardless of how many targets their attack hits, while not contributing to your hit count.
So far, I haven’t seen enough evidence to demonstrate which of the three cases is occurring.
You do understand that reilena damage is multiplicative and maltorius spike is additive 700% simple way to say reilena is 4 times multiplier where spike is +700%damage to skill which is already 10k on 6 piece so spike gives 10700
vs reilena 10000 x 4
That’s partly true, while yes there may have been an oversight to the damage bonus where it’s additive, it’s not additive to the set bonus, only +damage on gear (such as head,boots and offhand in this case)
Still causing the set to lose some damage, but not 700%.
I’m not sure where you’re getting additive vs multiplicative from.
Bone Spear now costs 40 Essence and deals 700% increased damage.
This means that Bone Spear will do 700% more damage to the base skill.
This is a multiplier: x = x + (x * 7)
This is effectively 8 times the damage.
Every point of Maximum Essence increases your damage by 0.5%.
With 660 Essence, this is 330% damage:
x = x + (x * 3.3)
Your [Bone Spear] deals 10,000% increased damage. Simulacrums gain triple this bonus. (6 pieces)
This means that your Bone Spear does 100 times more damage.
x = x + (x * 100).
So the Spike is basically: x = x + ((x + (x * 7)) * 100) = 801 (if x were 1)
And the shadowhook is: x = x + ((x + (x * 3.3)) * 100) = 431 (if x were 1)
If it is working how you say it is working and it’s 10,000% + 700% = 10,700% then it would be this: x = x + (x * (100 + 7)) = 108
Do you have a source that states this is how it’s working?
In my testing, without Bone Armor/CoE/Krysbins/Curses (for a good base level time), i’m doing about 15B damage with Shadowhook, and about 60B with Bone Armor (400% bonus from SotC).
Without those buffs with the Spike i’m doing 30B, and with Bone Armor 110B.
This indicates that it’s not working how you suggest it is.
Look at your character sheet with and without the spike. With the spike on, you will notice that the bonus damage to Bone Spear is 700% higher than without it on. This increase does not appear when you use other items, and is added to when you put on another item with Bone Spear damage (like the mentioned shoulders, chest armor, or offhand).
So, normally you can max out at +45% Bone Spear damage on your character sheet, and if you have that with something like the Scythe of the Cycle, the net effect will be (100% + 400%) * 1.45 = 725% damage. With the Spike, you will get 100% + 700% + 45% = 845%. If you combine the two together, you get (100% + 400%) * (100% + 700% + 45%) / 100 = 4225%. If you used Nayr’s Black Death (with 4 poison skills say) instead of the spike, you would get (100% + 400%) * (100% + 400%) / 100 * (100% + 45%) / 100 = 3625%. Which means that the Spike is doing right around 17% more damage than the Black Death setup. If it were multiplicative though, it would be doing 5800%, or 60% more than with the Black Death, and 37% more than the Spike applied additively as it is now.
I don’t think the focus should be on adding more skills to the set, that would be ignoring the problem Bone Spear had since the beginning of Necro with Pestilence (ignored for Corpse Lance and Corpse Explosion).
Fix the skill first and you fix most of the sets issues at it’s core.
I’ll copy my post here, 'cause we now know they are reading this thread
There’s currently no legendary item that changes the mechanics of Bone Spear. Maltorius offers just a numerical buff, but it doesn’t change the skill’s effect or interaction with monsters or other skills.
I would make the set be more centered around the Bone Prison passive, similar to how Manald’s Heal currently works with the stunning passive of wizards. Changes could be added to existing or new legendary items or to the set bonus.
May be something along the lines of…
Increasing the chance of casting Bone Prison
Monsters affected by Bone Prison take XX more damage from all sources for X seconds
Whenever a Bone Prison is procced, a Bone Spirit is cast from the affected monster to haunt a nearby enemy. Bone Spirit now deals XX more damage. Your Simulacrum now cast Bone Spirit when you do.
Make Bone Spirit work with Bone-themed runes as well, such as Bone Golem, or Bone Nova.
Whenever a Bone Prison is procced, a Death Nova is cast to haunt the target. Death Nova now deals XX more damage. (Changes accordingly to the rune you have slotted. This could make a good Iron Rose + Simulacrum + Bone Prison combo)
The first enemy hit by your Bone Spear triggers a Bone Nova, slowing enemies for XX during YY seconds
Bone Golem now casts Bone Nova everytime it is hit. Bone Nova now deals XX more damage.
The first enemy hit by a Bone Spear also triggers 2 Bone Spikes - Path of Bones targeting earby enemies. Bone Spikes now deal XX more damage.
Whenever you Stun or Inmobilize an enemy, apply a random curse to it. (This could work extremely well with Simulacrum - Cursed Form and Brigg’s Wrath)
Have to agree here, especially on the first point…I have died a few times now due to not seeing them gone.
Also would be nice to have something other than just bone spear, I must admit though I have done quite well up to T10 and GR 70, usually one-shot elites and bosses, but now as I have bumped up into t16 I am beginning to struggle a bit.